Branding a new campaign looking for payback
How we developed a brand from concept and conversation to a cohesive visual presence in a short timeframe
The short-term loan sector of the financial industry had been under pressure for some time.
Draconian terms and a lack of testing around affordability left thousands worse off than they were before engaging with a loan company. More needed to be done, and so Debt Hacker was conceived as one of the responses to that problem.
The roadmap for Debt Hacker’s future shifted when Wonga (a large 'payday loan company') went into administration in 2018. A new timeline needed to be developed spanning not weeks and months, but days and weeks, in order to prepare the organisation to start speaking to the issue.
The Debt Hacker leadership quickly assembled a crack team (you might say an “A-Team”) of communication specialists and campaigners to turbo-charge that process. It was our privilege to be invited to join that team.
We worked collaboratively in an agile fashion alongside other groups developing photography guides and direction on tone of voice. Together we quickly moved from research to concept, through audience testing, to fleshed out visuals, more testing… ultimately delivering a basic ('Minimum viable product' or MVP) brand toolkit and guideline document in two to three weeks.
Key for us is the process of taking an incredibly important campaign from concept and conversation, to a cohesive visual presence in a short time frame. The team had the assets and guidance they needed to iterate and develop their collateral, knowing that they had a sound foundation to build from.